1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to calendars, planners and organizers, and more particularly to covers or jackets for housing such items.
2. Background Art
External covers have been used to house, for example, organizers, diaries or planners. Such covers are useful to protect and conceal the contents of the organizer, diary, or planner. Many of such covers are equipped with a closure mechanism such as, for example, a zipper or a fold-over flap secured by a snap, clasp or magnet. An example of such a cover is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,979 to Yamamoto et al. While such covers have proven useful, they can be inconvenient when quick and easy access to the cover's internal contents is necessary or desired.
In order to overcome this inconvenience, certain frequently used functions of the organizer, planner, diary, etc., have been relocated to the outside of the cover, for easy access. Examples of such relocation are shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,183 to Cooper, U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,979 to Yamamoto et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,012 to Roegner, U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,752 to Southwick, U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,262 to Steinhart, U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,021 to Wallingford, U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,809 to Adams, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,192,365 to Siegel.
The relocation of various organizer functions to the outside of the cover sometimes raises aesthetics issues. The implementation of such functions on the outside of the cover can be unsightly. One approach to improving the aesthetics of such covers is to hide the externally located functions behind a flap or flaps. Examples of such external flaps are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,183 to Cooper (at FIG. 1), U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,979 to Yamamoto et al. (at FIG. 18), U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,012 to Roegner (at FIGS. 3 and 4), U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,752 to Southwick (at FIG. 4), U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,262 to Steinhart (at FIGS. 4 and 5), U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,021 to Wallingford (at FIG. 4), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,809 to Adams (at FIG. 3).
In all such examples, some visible and present means for securing the flap to the outside cover is shown. Snaps are used in the patents to Cooper and Adams; buckles are used in Yamamoto et al.; hook and loop fasteners are used in Wallingford and Roegner; and zippers are used in Steinhart and Southwick. Such visible and present securing means can also be unsightly, or at least undesirable when inconspicuous concealment of organizer functions is the goal.
Moreover, such securing means may interfere with the organizer function or adversely affect the aesthetics of the layout of the function or functions. This is especially of concern with compact cover designs, where the surface area for the function(s) and securing means is limited. This concern is illustrated to some degree in U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,012 to Roegner (at FIG. 4) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,021 to Wallingford (at FIG. 4), where hook and loop fasteners are prominently displayed on the outside surface of the cover and/or on the inside of the flap. Such securing means occupy substantial surface area otherwise available for relocated functions. In addition, such securing means significantly influence the aesthetics of the article.